French Open runner-up Elena Dementieva survived the cull of seeded players at the $585,000 New Haven Open in Connecticut by beating Claudine Schaul of Luxembourg 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals.
Fifth seed Nadia Petrova joined Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova and eighth seed Magdalena Maleeva on the sidelines when the Russian was knocked out 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 by American Lisa Raymond.
But second seed Dementieva held firm to clinch a meeting with Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro.
Dementieva, beaten by fellow Russian Anastasia Myskina in her first grand slam final at Roland Garros in June, had lost her opening match in each of her previous two tournaments, but looked full of confidence against Schaul, the world number 51.
Jankovic ousted Croatian Jelena Kostanic, conqueror of Maleeva in round one, 6-2, 7-5.
Daniela Hantuchova continued her return to form with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory over lucky loser Marissa Irvin of the U.S.
Slovakian Hantuchova, who was number five in the world in early 2003, has shown a considerable improvement this year but was made to fight by Irvin, who was handed a place in the draw after the withdrawal of Lindsay Davenport.
Hantuchova now plays Raymond, whose win over Petrova means that only four of the eight seeds remain.
Eighth seed Nathalie Dechy of France overcame Japanese Akiko Morigami 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 to set up a clash with defending champion and third seed Jennifer Capriati.
Capriati has reached the quarter-finals in her last six events but is looking for her first title since she beat fellow American Davenport to win the New Haven final 12 months ago.
